Cover-fastening device.



G. E; & E. K. LINTON. OOVER FASTENING DEVICE. APPI-IOATION FILED JULY 21, 1911.

1,090,634. Patented Mar. 17, 1914.

WITNESSES: S zi yztmvmmas mmmaw w BY ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES E. LINTON AND ETDGERTON K. LINTON, OF SAGINAW, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNORS TO MIKA COOKER COMPANY, OF SAGINAW, MICHIGAN, A. COR- PORATION OF MICHIGAN.

COVER-FASTENING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 17,1914.

Application filed July 21, 1911. Serial No. 639,848.

in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to locking devices for the hinged covers of boxes, chests and similar articles, and is particularly adapted for use in connection with the covers of that class of utensils commonly known as fireless cookers, in which it is essential that the cover be drawn down tight to form an airtight joint with the body of the cooker.

The objects of our improvement are to provide a simple, cheap and effective device by which the cover can be easily and quickly locked and unlocked and by which the cover, when being locked, will be drawn tightly down and automatically locked to the body of the box.

Further objects are to provide a locking device in which the handle, when in its locked position, will project in such a position as to be easily grasped by the hand without the necessity of first prying out or springing the handle, an objection which has heretofore been common in looking devices used in connection with fireless cookers.

Another object is to so arrange the looking member that it will automatically swing into place and engage the cover when the handle is lifted, without the necessity of first placing the locking hook in position.

Still another object is to so construct the locking device that during the first part of the movement of the handle in the act of locking, the looking hook will be drawn down rapidly to engage the cover, and then as the handle raises, the locking member will be drawn down more slowly but with greater force until the handle reaches the locked position, in which position the locking hook will have been moved to a locked position, in which no lifting of the cover can unlock it until the locking handle is released. This toggle joint function is an important feature of my improvement and yvill be more fully set forth in the specificaion.

Our invention consists in the parts and combinations described in the specification and set forth in the claim.

The deviw is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a side view of the device unlocked; Fig. 2 is a similar view showing it in the locked position; and Fig. 3 is a front view showing the same in the unlocked position.

As is clearly shown in the drawings, the locking device consists in an eye 1 of wire or other suitable material, secured to the cover 2, and a bracket 3 also made of wire, secured to the body 4 of the box. Pivotally mounted on the bracket 3 is a wire handle 5 having at its opposite end a projecting loop 6. Mounted on the bar 7 of loop 6 is a hook 8, the middle part of which is bent inwardly as at 9, for a purpose which will presently be described. The eye 1 is preferably located closer to the vertical face of the body 4 than is the bar of the bracket 3, and the bar 7 on the handle is arranged to swing inwardly and upwardly when the handle is lowered, and downwardly and outwardly when the handle is raised. When the handle is in its raised position, bar 7 lies slightly outside of the plane of the eye 1 and bar 10, the middle portion 9 of the hook being bent so as to lie between the body 4 and the bar 10 when the handle is in its raised position. The purpose of this construction is to bring the lower end of hook 8 outside of the plane of eye 1 and bar 10, as indicated at wa: in Fig. 2, so that the resultant of the tension in hook 8 between the eye 1 and bar 7 shall lie outside of the bar 10, as indicated at y-y in Fig. 2, thereby preventing any tendency of the handle 5 to become unlocked when the box and cover are forcibly strained apart.

In practice we prefer to form the handle 5, loop 6 and bar 7 of a single piece of wire, as illustrated in the drawings, and to form the hook 8 of a single piece of wire, since the slight spring of which the wire is capable assists the smoothness of operation of the device. When the handle is moved down, the hook 8 first lifts clear of the eye 1 and then swings back, as shown in Fig. 1,

1 same time swinging outwardly until it reaches its locked position, as above de-.

scribed. In this position the handle 5 is nearly upright and is conveniently located to be easily grasped when the cover is to be unlocked.

lVe prefer in practice to bend the two ends 11 of the hook 8 around the bar 7 so as to have a slight binding action thereon so that the hook8, when not in engagement with the eye 1, will follow the turning movement of the handle instead of being loose thereon. This arrangement obviates the necessity of guiding the hook by hand into the eye 1 when the handle is raised, as the friction between the bent ends 11 and bar 7 will be sufficient to guide the hook in place.

a bar; a handle pivotally mounted on the bar of said bracket, a projecting loop having a bar on the opposite end of said handle;

a hook formed of a single piece of wire and having its middle part bent inwardly, the lower ends of said hook bent around the bar of said handle to slightly. bind thereon,

for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof, we aflix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES LINTON. V EDGERTON K. LINTON.

Witnesses e CHRISTINE A. 'BRAIDEL, GEO. W. SMITH.

Copies ot thitpatent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of latepts. l Washington, D. G." I i 

